Columbia Pictures' big-screen adaption of Elizabeth Gilbert'sEat, Pray, Lovepremieres this week. In 2008, Slate's Audio Book Club debated whether Gilbert's best-selling memoir, about a recently divorced woman who embarks on a long journey across the globe, is self-indulgent chick-lit or a great beach read with artistic merit. The audio is reposted below.

To listen to the Slate Audio Book Club discussion of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love, click the arrow on the player below.

You can also download the audio file here, or click here to subscribe to the Slate Audio Book Club feed in iTunes.

"Dilettante" columnist Stephen Metcalf, NYU professor Roiphe, and Slate culture editor Julia Turner argued about the book's artistic merits, its structure, and whether it's possible to even imagine a man enjoying the book. Is Gilbert merely a "high-level hack"? Are negative responses to the book evidence of the tendency to dismiss women who write memoirs as "self-indulgent"? The conversation runs about 55 minutes.

You can also listen to any of our previous club meetings by clicking on the links below *: